“…all cultures are partial and benefit from the insights of others [resulting in a genuine global universalism that] can be arrived at only by means of an uncoerced and equal intercultural [or inter-civilizational] dialogue.” Bhikkhu Parekh

Whatever is ill and unjust does not feign amid a world social construction. The awareness and moral action of youth are malleable forces within societies, and these form through educational processes. Dialogue can additionally enrich the character of youth, encouraging them to participate effectively within society to affect the moral nature of humanity. Such constructive effort teaches youth the importance of a deliberative approach to dialog, helping them learn better to manage conflicts and differences. Although the ability to control the inner self and moral makeup of individuals is impossible, constructing a social norm of moral ethos is not. Emile Durkheim has related that hegemony lays the foundation for social norms. His tenets reveal that ruling ideologies derive a majority social consensus that reflects the popular sentiments of society.

These sentiments, however good or bad, however ignorant or educated, are maintained within the parameters of whatever is popular belief. If individuals submit to a holistic approach that analyzes an entire system of beliefs rather than its single components, then a common ground for dialogue transpires.   A holistic understanding of good maintained by a recognizable constitution of global ethos can perfect a new hegemony. A formative education, inclusive of dialogue, can reduce stereotypes that prevent humanity from establishing commonalities among nations, cultures, or religions. This construct empowers individuals to rise above typical hegemonic devices and manufacture a transformative awareness toward global tolerance.

Knowledge, a culmination of educational processes, establishes the means to confront the significant and real issues of divisiveness while encouraging dialogue as a venue toward a more peaceful and safer world (Carroll 2007: ii). Within a renewed civil society, a “golden generation” of morally educated individuals, founded within a diverse and tolerant world, can affect the fundamental change needed to rejuvenate thinking and action. As we inhabit a world of shrinking space, a lesson in responsibility teaches us that respect for cultures and religions is imperative. Enlightening the ingrained mindset of adults is often difficult, as change does not come easily. Increasing the analytical skills and the thinking ability of youth enables a better examination of issues according to an inclusive and tolerant worldview. Education, in this capacity, embraces youth wherever the opportunity is available.

Social values and character building programs in schools in the U.S. and other nations are ineffective if they are not inclusive or diverse enough to reflect the global perspectives of diverse populations, religions, and cultures. Mediation processes, peace negotiations, and character programs alone are not enough. There must be a plan to expose youth to the foundations of various faiths and their cultural practices and origins. This kind of education has much social value since today’s diverse populations inhabit educational systems calling for a need for these skills. This educational practice does not mandate the teaching of religion, although culture and religion mesh, but it does suggest religious understanding. Being tolerant does not mean accepting what someone does or does not believe, as long as their beliefs do not affect any other individual. This type of tolerance perpetuates ignorance. Schools have a deeper responsibility toward teaching tolerance and dialogue to students, to move them toward a new era of relationships. Active learning works by asking questions and receiving answers, and this leads to progress. It is also a religious, political, and economic tool to be used in analytical discussions and real life applications. Gaining such knowledge and skills make education a creative and malleable force geared for ethical thinking.

A new history, written after 9/11, reveals that religion can create a socio-political statement, whether the message reflects minority malevolent intent or the misconstrued message of the majority. Tremendous efforts to seek truth, understanding, and awareness for greater dialogue among the religions of the world, especially between Christianity and Islam, have arisen because of this. Scholars work to obtain a global ethos that maintains a universal understanding of right and wrong, including a comprehensive agenda to direct humanitarian efforts toward common goals. David Smock, Vice President of the U.S. Institute of Peace and director of the Religion and Peacemaking Program, states his imperative for religious understanding and its political and diplomatic influence. He explains:

No major religion has been exempt from complicity in violent conflict. Yet we need to beware of an almost universal propensity to oversimplify the role that religion plays in international affairs. Religion is not usually the sole or even primary cause of conflict. With so much emphasis on religion as a source of conflict, the role of religion as a force in peacemaking is usually overlooked. Religious leaders and institutions can mediate in conflict situations, serve as communication links between opposing sides, and organize interfaith dialogue (Rumi Forum, 2009).
This type of informative academic material enriches the knowledge of civil society and can help people learn to distinguish what constitutes mainstream beliefs from extremists of varied religious backgrounds and faiths. Such was the misconception prior and just after 9/11.
The educational vision held by Fethullah Gülen takes an inclusive and holistic approach to interfaith understanding that enables youth to understand and engage with other cultures and faiths; such an approach benefits all of civil society. Jill Carroll quotes Mr. Gülen saying that his idea involves not only schools, but families, communities, and media. All major components of society must align the effort of educating youth in all beneficial knowledge. All social institutions must cultivate or “educate” people’s innate capacities for higher [human awareness]… (Carroll 2007:74).

Educating youth and adults to understand the value of interfaith dialogue and tolerance is one route to greater global coexistence.
This education also affects all levels and functions of civil society. It is a collective yet individualized method of gaining human connection. A new era of world vision encompasses a diverse global society, and therefore, the worldview must acknowledge that the world’s systems inevitably fail, and individuals must respond.

This initiative rests at the threshold of a world without racism, without subjugation, and without divisiveness. Power, religion, and modernity accomplish more through understanding. A great gift to this world would be a higher existence on earth. A diverse yet inclusive world grants temperance as a foundation for building a better tomorrow.

Social education is a fundamental means for reconstructing existing hegemonic social norms. It also incorporates interfaith dialogue as a fundamental part of the social foundation. No society reaches its fullest potential without education, and Jill Carrol explains that “[Fethullah] Gülen sees education as the means by which people become the true beings God created them to be; thus, to become educated in life’s most important task” (Carroll 2007: 72). From her book, A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gülen’s Islamic Ideals and Humanistic Discourse, she also quotes Mr. Gülen saying:

The main duty and purpose of human life is to seek understanding. The effort of doing so, known as education, is a perfecting process through which we earn, in the spiritual, intellectual, and physical dimensions of our beings, the rank appointed for us as the perfect pattern of creation… perfecting our thinking, perceptions, and belief (Carroll 2007: 72).

There is much power in this educational theory, enough to sustain a global vision and move humans toward greater understanding. It merges religious and cultural commonalities despite differences.

Educational processes that support dialogue transcend normative social, religious, and cultural understandings and allow spiritual awareness to influence outcomes. Theologian Hans Küng stated during the opening presentation at the Exhibit on the World’s Religions at Santa Clara University that
The world’s religions are very, very different and have very different bases. It would be illusionary to think that you can just unify the religions. But, I hope for peace among the religions, and that is a very realistic hope. … There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions (Küng 2005).

His hope, too, is for a real community of nations – and that begins with peaceful coexistence and tolerance among faiths. This message stresses the need for a greater understanding and compassion among religions and encouragement for the world to recognize the valuable role of dialogue in the social educational system. To become ideally human is to incorporate the use of all that is human and use it to perfect the self through education of mind and spirit, whereby the soul recognizes the capacity to determine right action.

This educational empowerment assists global social change and is the beginning of a promising initiative to educate responsible global citizens. No better investment or place to start exists than with the youth of this world. Progress begins with a valuable investment in the youth of the world in hopes that they in turn manifest a new attitude that embraces dialogue, the tenets of a global ethos, good citizenship, and the will to strive for righteousness on behalf of humankind.

Recognizing that the great religions of the world have spiritual messages and visions that affirm ethical traditions is to realize that from these divergent paths, voices, languages, cultures, and heritages, we can find moral commonalities. The confirmation of an impassioned love for life and the divineness of mysteries unite humankind within an elevated existence. The acknowledgement and agreement of the existence of something beyond man’s earthly comprehension is encompassing. We can hope that educational programs will provide knowledge of diverse beliefs, faiths, and spiritual traditions and will one day nurture mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among people.

Bibliography

Carroll, Jill B. 2007.   A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gülen’s Islamic Ideals and Humanistic Discourse. Somerset, NJ: The Light Publishing Company.

Küng, Hans. 2005. “The World’s Religions: Common Ethical Values”, presented at the opening of The Exhibit on the World’s Religions at Santa Clara University accessed on 5/16/2009 from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/global_ethics/laughlin-lectures/kung-world-religions.html.

Smock, David. 2009. Religion in World Affairs: Its Role in Conflict and Peace. Rumi Forum, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., presented June 18, 2009.

There were thirty of them, and they did not admit new members. The first requirement for being a member was engaging in deep contemplation and speaking very little.

Famous scholar and poet Mulla Jami aspired to take part in the council. When he heard one day that a member of the council had died, he went to the manor of the scholars, seeking to be a candidate.

He did not speak a word to the doorman. He wrote his name on a piece of paper and had the doorman take it to the council, which was holding a meeting.

The members of the council were saddened when they saw the note. Mulla Jami deserved to be there, but they had already admitted someone else.

There was no place for another new member. The head of the council filled a glass with water and had it sent to Mulla Jami, who understood the message right away: another drop, and the glass would overflow.

Mulla Jami immediately picked a leaf from a rose branch nearby and gently placed it on the water. The glass did not overflow, and Mulla Jami had it sent back to the council.

Seeing the glass with the leaf, the council gladly decided to welcome Mulla Jami among them.

The head of the council added Mulla’s name on the list. Instead of making the number thirty-one, je added a zero to the right of thirty and wrote 300.

This meant the value of the council rose ten times. When Mulla Jami saw the revised list, he erased the zero on the right and placed it to the left of the number 30 to make it 030.

In all his modesty, Mulla Jami was showing himself with no value; just as the rose leaf did not overflow the glass his presence would not add up anything to the present value of the council.

It is not easy to be a rose leaf. Yet it requires being a rose leaf to get along well with others.

Not being a burden on others and ease others’ burdens…

Becoming as light and beautiful as a rose leaf. It heralds the peace inside all of us; the harmony with our family and others around us. It is the harbinger of the path of eternal bliss.

Those who appreciate the significance of the rose leaf contribute to their society as if they are ten times their worth; yet they behave like the zero on the left, as they avoid being a burden to anyone.

Can we be a rose leaf in our own lives?

Let us go after the rose and become one of its leaves and be a means of healing for all.

Capitalist modernity emerged in the West out of a conservative and religious past. Society in the Middle Ages of the West was highly influenced by the Church and feudal law, and was based on an agricultural economy (Kelley, 2002). After the Renaissance and the Enlightenment Era of free thinkers and new social theorists such as Locke, Bentham, and other Liberals, the West dramatically transformed into a highly individualistic and capitalist society. It is worth noting that not everybody agrees as to what modernity is (McPherson, 2015). Some of the values that come with modernity, such as dress codes and legal drinking of alcohol, do not comply with the way many Muslims practice their faith. Even when pushed, liberal capitalism has always been uncertain in the Muslim world, from ultra-conservative countries to more liberal ones. Locke’s social vision of ownership of property through applying labor and exchanging products (i.e. principles of capitalism) are not all against the economic principles of Islam. Islam allows for regulated capitalism with the permissibility of small businesses, dispersal of property, and trade (Dunning, 2003). Of course there are still limits, such as dealing with usury, but the problem today is that there is no Islamic country or state, but rather only Muslim-majority countries, which is the term preferred by many Muslim political academics, such as Tariq Ramadan (2001). After Western colonization of many of these Muslim-majority nations, there has risen many different political strategies and responses to capitalist modernity, whether they be in the West or in Muslim countries that have adopted secular-liberal principles.

Political Islam was born after the colonization of the Middle East by Western nations such as Britain and France, and after the establishment of Israel, supported by Western allies. Furthermore, the backing of autocratic rulers in the Middle East and the ongoing Western interference into Muslim countries, have ensured that even though physical colonialism has ended, it still survives in different forms. Some Muslim countries have completely rejected any Western ideals, such as liberalism or democracy; these include Khomeini’s Iran (Rubin, 2003). Others have rejected the Western way of life but allowed for trade with the West and allowed for some capitalist principles. These include Saudi Arabia (Martin, 1982). Turkey used to be an oft-cited example of how a Muslim-majority country could have capitalism in common with the West and also share a Western-style modernity, but recent developments have dramatically shattered this image.

Like any movement, Political Islam has spawned its share of thinkers and writers. Sayyid Qutb wrote extensively, arguing against modernism and capitalism having any place in Muslim societies. He believed that Muslims who welcome modernism are creating a state of “jahiliyya” (ignorance) and that they are committing “kufr” (disbelief), which has given rise to the very dangerous and politicized idea of “takfir” (declaring Muslims are apostates) (Terence & Dagger, 2009, p. 456-460).
Many radical movements, such as al-Qaeda, and their leader, Osama bin Laden, were heavily influenced by this idea. Bin Laden often expounded on his political ideology and his ambitions for a puritan Islamic state free from any Western influence. His arguments justifying the bombing of various American buildings in the Muslim world or on American soil were not so different from Qutb’s arguments in support of a global “jihad” as an offensive attack against modernity, capitalism, and other Western ideals which are seen blasphemous by their interpretation of Islam.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1920s, has been an influential conservative movement. They sought political rule recognizing the Qur’an and Sunnah as the only reference point for social order. The Muslim Brotherhood eventually came into power in Egypt after the Arab Spring of 2011 and the overthrow of Egypt’s long-serving dictator, Hosni Mubarak. Their rule under the leadership of Morsi gave rise to much discontent among those who did not share the Brotherhood’s worldview, and eventually General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took over the government after a coup and promised to restore Egypt to a secular society.

In another part of the Muslim world racked by civil war, the Islamic State came to power (Gerges, 2015). Even though the majority of Muslims worldwide reject the group’s claim to Islamic polity, IS strongly believe themselves to be the heirs to the revival of the Islamic caliphate. Before going further, it is important to know that every political Islamic group, whether militant or not, dreams of returning to an Islamic caliphate. The political philosophy of an Islamic caliphate is the ultimate goal and social vision, any policy that achieves that goal is worthwhile. Of course what is necessary and what is not, differs from group to group. There are extreme groups utilizing terrorism and other fear factors, such as IS and al-Qaeda, and other groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, utilizing democracy as a process to achieve power and the implementation of the Islamic caliphate. There also are Islamic groups such as Hizb-ul-tahrir, who are completely non-militant but who propagate amongst Muslims globally, aiming to achieve the return of an Islamic caliphate (Butt, 2010).

There are also moderate political voices in the Muslim community, who also have a strategy for dealing with the challenges of capitalist modernity. According to the well-known Muslim preacher and writer, Fethullah Gülen, secularism should not be seen as at odds with Islam. He admits that secularism involves freedom of religion, writing “The freedom of religion is defined as for the individuals to believe in the religion of their choice and without the fear of being disturbed to be able to practice the requirements of the religion they chose freely” (Ergil, 2015). He sees this as being coherent with Islam, as the Qur’an states that “there is no coercion in religion.” He has always strongly believed that religion should not be used as a tool of politics, whether that be Christian politicians or Muslim politicians, who seek to gain political power.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a prominent Muslim thinker, makes a strong critique of modernity, arguing that modernity means that “which is cut off from the Transcendent, from the immutable principles which in reality govern all things and which are made known to man through revelation in its most universal sense.” This is a spiritual interpretation of modernity, which argues that traditional Islam rejects that definition of modernity and sees Islam as focused on spirituality in this world and not materialism, which is the Western way of living (Bilecen, 2014). Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies at Oxford University, advances political Islamic thought in contrast to Western political thought. Ramadan contends that Muslims, especially in the West, must be equipped to respond appropriately to the challenges of modernity with a point of reference, one going back to Islamic ideals of ethics and spirituality (Ramadan, 2001). He argues there must be a meaningful and intellectual dialogue to occur between Muslims and the West in tackling modernity.

Many Muslims have adopted living in the West under secularism and in a capitalist society yet still remain critical of the challenges both pose. It is also clear that the majority of Muslims reject the atrocities occurring in isolated parts of the Muslim world and perpetrated by some militant Muslims responding to Western ideals of capitalism and modernity which they usually encountered in the form of colonialism. Muslims and non-Muslims alike have been critical for centuries and this critique should not be seen as an attack on society, but rather it should enhance society and open a dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims.

References

• Achcar, G, Extreme capitalism of the Muslim Brothers, Le Monde diplomatique, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://mondediplo.com/2013/06/05brothers.
  Bilecen, H 2014, Islamic Modernism Series II: modernism vs. traditional Islam, Today’s Zaman, retrieved 8 February 2016, < http://www.todayszaman.com/blog/hali-l-bi-lecen/islamic-modernism-series-ii-modernism-vs-traditional-islam_350214.html>
• Butt, N 2010, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a political party and has no connection with militancy, The Khilafah, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://www.khilafah.com/hizb-ut-tahrir-is-a-political-party-and-has-no-connection-with-militancy/.
• Dunning, J & HRH The Prince of Wales 2003, Making Globalization Good: The Moral Challenges of Global Capitalism, Oxford University Press, New York.
  Ergil, D 2015, What is the view of Fethullah Gülen on secularism?, Fethullah Gülen, retrieved 8 February 2016, < http://fgulen.com/en/gulen-movement/fethullah-gulen-and-the-gulen-movement-in-100-questions/48023-what-is-the-view-of-fethullah-gulen-on-secularism>.
• Gerges, F 2015, The rise of IS – and how to beat it, BBC News, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30681224.
  Kelley, D 2002, 9/11 and The War Against Modernity, The Atlas Society, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://atlassociety.org/commentary/commentary-blog/3653-9-11-and-the-war-against-modernity.
• Martin, D 1982, Saudi Arabia’s New Capitalism, The New York Times, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/business/saudi-arabia-s-new-capitalism.html?pagewanted=all.
• McPherson, C 2015, Not everyone agrees on what modernity is, Today’s Zaman, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://www.todayszaman.com/columnists_not-everyone-agrees-on-what-modernity-is_380078.html.
• Ramadan, T 2001, Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity, The Islamic Foundation, Markfield, United Kingdom.
  Rubin, B 2003, Why Islamic societies of the Middle East are so opposed to globalization, Yale Global Online, http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/globalization-and-middle-east-part-one.
• Terence, B & Dagger, R 2009, Ideals and ideologies; a reader, 7th edn, Pearson/Longman.
  Trager, E 2013, Think Again: The Muslim Brotherhood, Foreign Policy, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/01/28/think-again-the-muslim-brotherhood/.
• Tristam, P, The Assassination of Egypt’s Anwar Sadat, About News, retrieved 8 February 2016, http://middleeast.about.com/od/egypt/a/me081006a.htm.

Breakthroughs and innovations start with a very radical idea. They don’t try to improve a process or product; they often disrupt an existing solution or approach or displace an existing technology. This is a lesson to us: You don’t need to wait for others to shape your future.

Ideas can come from anywhere. Sometimes a conversation, or reading a book, or even a dream [1] can be the source of innovation. Our daily activities are all part of the inventive process. In fact, the internet provides many sources of information and inspiration. One can easily search for related patents and research on how to improve the idea. An average internet user can easily access new tools and platforms to take courses online, ask questions, and get answers from experts. New online platforms like Coursera, Udacity, and edX [2] provide free and high quality educational content and tools. One can easily take courses from these platforms, educating themselves and developing new ideas and technologies.

Crowdsourcing is another alternative for finding an innovative solution to a problem. Many companies and organizations are now organizing innovation challenges, seeking ideas and products for problems in many scientific and engineering fields. This approach allows companies to access the world’s smartest people to help solve important technical, social, policy, and scientific challenges. Governments and large corporations are also offering incentives for large scale scientific and technological projects. A well-known example of this approach are XPRIZE challenges [3]. The XPRIZE Foundation is organizing challenges to help solve difficult future problems. One of the challenges from XPRIZE is to build and launch a spacecraft that can carry three people 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface – and can do so twice in two weeks. Another space related challenge is to land safely on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters on the Lunar surface, and communicate two times with the Earth. These challenges are not only allowing companies to push the limits of science and technology, but also generating commercial and applied projects.

But back to you and your great new idea… Once you have your innovative idea on solid ground, the next step is to attract funding to bring your idea to life. There are many funding mechanisms today, including loans from banks, borrowing money from friends and family, angel investors, startup competitions, venture capital funding, and a new approach called “crowdfunding.” Crowdfunding is the process of collecting financing for a project or idea from a large number of (often anonymous) investors, each donating small amounts. The crowdfunding industry is expected to grow to $90 billion by 2020. There are many successful crowdfunding campaigns that raised over $1 million in less than 24 hours, for art pieces, movies, technological products, and video games. The highest reported funding campaign was for a project called Star Citizen, an online space video game that raised over $37 million [4]. The crowdfunding platforms also help with the marketing, advertising, and social media reach for the ideas and products.

While it is possible to explain and attract funding with just the idea or concept of your innovation, it is important to have a functioning prototype to prove that the idea is real and it is possible to bring it to life. Prototyping is an important step for demonstrating your idea to others. With the developments in manufacturing and 3D printing, it is easier than ever to produce a prototype. Low cost 3D printing allows local manufacturing and prototyping. While 3D printing has existed for quite some time, it was for many years an expensive technology available only to larger companies. New technological developments make it available and affordable for personal use. One can easily design or download a 3D model of a product, and print at home for testing and everyday use. Many printing stores now accept online orders for 3D print jobs [5]. 3D printing can make easy for innovators to produce a prototype of their products and test before starting fundraising process and mass production.

The current level of 3D printer technology allows printing mostly for non-electronic components of a product. For electronic components and computing units of prototypes, open source electronics platforms are useful. There are many platforms that allow hardware developers to prototype their projects using electronics, sensors, actuators, and motors. Hackers, artists, designers, and hobbyists have produced many interactive and interesting projects. Would you like to have your coffee pot send you a tweet when the coffee is ready? Receive an SMS when there is mail in your physical mailbox? What about an auto-lacing shoe? These are all made possible using open source electronic projects. What is great about all of these projects is that the developers share all necessary steps and details of the their projects for easy replication by interested users.

Innovation is not limited to physical products and hardware. One can easily develop a mobile app to improve a traditional business or disrupt an industry. Smartphones and innovative app ideas are changing the way we get a taxi (Uber), book a room (Airbnb), check the price of a product (Amazon), and share-a-ride (Lyft). Uber introduced a smartphone app to allow passengers to book the nearest “taxi” and track the vehicle on a map. Users can make payments with their preloaded credit card information. The Lyft mobile app facilitates ride-sharing by enabling passengers to request a ride from other users nearby who have a car, in exchange for a small fee. Airbnb allows people to rent their private rooms, apartments, homes, and other properties to other users seeking lodging. The Amazon price check app disrupts the retail business by allowing consumers to scan bar codes in local stores and compare prices and order directly from Amazon.

Most of these new approaches were made available by the introduction of smart phones and mobile technologies. The total number of smartphones in the world is over 2 billion. One can develop a small game and reach 20 million users, a relatively small percentage of the worldwide smartphone users, in a single day. For a product or a service, reaching 20 million customers in one day is a great achievement. With new software platforms, it is easier to develop a smartphone application that works on many platforms. These software tools even allow developers to use easier web technologies to program the app. It is becoming a straightforward process to bring an idea to life, especially in software products and services. With all these new tools and services, innovation is getting easier than ever.

While having a novel idea is an important step for innovation, education and hard work are critical for success. Through education, we can inspire new generations to come up with innovative ideas that can change the world. Thomas Edison, famous inventor with over 1000 patents, regarded success as “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Through dedication, failure can be viewed as another opportunity to learn something new. As Edison said, “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

References

1. Halil I. Demir, ‘Religious Inspirations and Scientific Inventions’, Fountain Magazine, Issue 89 / September – October 2012.
2. Alex Usher, ‘The Future of MOOCs: Coursera and EdX’, Higher Education Strategy Associates, November 19, 2013.
3. XPRIZE Scientific and Technological Challenges, http://xprize.org
4. Ryan Fleming, ‘Star Citizen destroys all crowdfunding records, hits $37 million’, Digital Trends, January 22, 2014.
5. Dominic Basulto, ‘How 3D printing could transform Amazon and online shopping’, March 13, 2014.

One who is conscious of the Divine origin of the gifts may express resignation with such words as “Your favor is welcome, and so is Your retribution.” One acts in peace and contentment and tries to attain confidence in the valleys of reliance, surrender, and commitment. Negligence of what is necessary for a traveler to do in order to hunt these gifts that come from the Ultimate Truth—for example, neglecting to do what falls to the free will in order to obtain a desired result—is a fault on the part of the saintly ones, who have reached the ranks of perfect godliness and nearness to God. Since this means that the heart has lost some degrees in its relation with God, the Ultimate Truth, the traveler is punished according to his or her rank. Those who have risen to a certain rank are expected to use all their time in the most profitable way possible, and to try to strengthen their relation with the Almighty and multiply their rewards. It is because of this that a Sufi is called “a child of time.”

Being “a child of time” means that initiates always consider what they must do at all times and, doing what is best in God’s sight, use all times and opportunities given by God as if each were a seed capable of producing seven or seventy or seven hundred grains. This also means fixing one’s eyes exclusively on God and always turning expectantly and hopefully to the source from which the Divine gifts come. Also, one makes one’s will dependent on God’s Will. The beginning of this rank, marked by an initiate’s spiritual state and pleasure, is time and its end is the intersecting point of being contained and not contained in time and place. We can also view it as the projection onto an initiate’s heart of the Messenger’s rank—he reached the highest point pre-destined for him, a point at which he became so close to God that there was left only the distance between the strings of two bows adjacent to each other or even less (53:9). Mawlana Jalalu’d-Din Rumi indicates this as follows:

A Sufi is an example of how one can be a child of time;
but as for a purified saintly one, he is free from both time and state.

The periods of time when the Prophets are sent to the world with God’s Message, or illustrious, purified saintly scholars are charged with special duties, or honorable saints are honored with sainthood are the periods when the doors to the Divine gifts are wide open and the world is enlightened and honored by the Divine Light. Those periods, and every part of the Age of Happiness, that is, the Time of the Messenger, in particular, are regarded as the Days of God in proportion to the density and extent of radiation of the lights those holy people diffuse. On the other hand, time gets darker in proportion to the fading of the enlightening thought that they diffuse and in proportion to the world’s being deprived of this thought.

If the Almighty wills that His servants who are traveling on His way be favored and embraced with mercy, He strengthens them with time, making it a ladder for them to climb beyond time, or enabling them to do many useful things in a short time, things that would be impossible in a normal timeframe. If, by contrast, He wills to throw those who stray from His way into loneliness and boredom, He wraps time in evil for them and allows them to wander on the slopes of time in a dark, barren land that is closed to the Ultimate Truth. We call this barren part of time “time” only in its literal meaning. Otherwise, time is a gurgling stream that continuously flows into the observatories where God’s Acts are observed.

The true heroes of time have always taken the present day into consideration and tried to use it in the best way possible. They take the previous and the following days into account, but only from the viewpoint of their being the beginning and end of the present day; they regard the previous day as the basic element of the fabric of our lives and the following one as the weft. As for those foremost in nearness to God who live as if beyond the limits of time, they make use of all of time, they have assigned time to God in such a mysterious way that according to the famous adage One who does not taste, does not know, we cannot perceive it. Those people who do not live on the same horizon can neither grasp the showers of gifts with which they have been favored nor understand the profundity of their knowledge of God and the depth of the spiritual pleasures they taste. As time serves like rain pouring down from the heavens and a fertile field bursting with vegetation, they sometimes think of the past favors of God and increase their devotion to Him, saying, “Should I not become a servant thankful (to my Lord)?” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 6); sometimes they speak to themselves of such feelings of gratitude and are immersed in waves of gratitude. Their responsibilities always bring them good and blessings, and the good and blessings they receive lead them to more gratitude.

By virtue of being conscious of the source of the favors and understanding the main reason lying behind the compliments, an initiate experiences pleasures beyond all understanding and begins to perceive punishments as if they were favors. Though such a degree of favor may open the door for some people of certain disposition and temperament to free and easy behavior and the utterance of proud words that are incompatible with the rules of Shari‘a, those who travel on the way to God guided by the Sunna of the Prophet always behave with self-possession. In obedience to the Divine commandments, they adorn their nearness to God with utmost respect for and awe of Him; they fly in the depths of the heaven of sainthood on the wings of knowledge (ilm) and knowledge of God (marifa). Attributing to God alone whatever favors they may receive and whatever achievement they may realize, their lofty ranks will never prevent them from the utmost humility. Traveling from state to state, they drink gifts sip by sip from the bowl of self-possession.

For others who can take one more step forward, things and events no longer become visible, the past and future are confused, and time melts away in the infinity of the absolute Owner of time and completely disappears from their view. Traveling in such a mysterious valley, they taste the pleasures of seeing everything annihilated in God Almighty and, in the face of the scene which things and beings display under the overall manifestations of God’s Names, they feel wonder, absorbed in turning to God Almighty and utter amazement at His signs and acts. They even take the manifestations of His Names and Attributes for His manifesting Himself in visible forms or in nature or other things. This mood is the point where an initiate may become confused in the world of his or her feelings, thoughts and pleasures. Some people of different temperaments may, as mentioned above, confuse God’s manifestations of His Names and Attributes with His manifesting Himself in different forms, and see a drop as if it were an ocean, a particle of light as if it were the sun, nothing as if it were everything, and utter such words as: “I am the Truth; How exalted my being is!”; “There is nothing in the name of existence save God;” and “There is nothing that exists but God.”

We should point out that the fact that everything is from Him and is sustained by Him does not mean that nothing else exists, or that everything is not different from Him, or that everything is identical with Him. If things and events are not viewed and analyzed in the light of the Prophetic Message and with an insight and consciousness based on it, and if the spiritual journey is not based on self-possession and discernment (between truth and untruth, origin and shadow, God and His Acts and works), it will be difficult for people of certain disposition and temperament to be freed from such confusions.

O God! Guide us to the Straight Way, the way of those whom You have favored. And bestow blessings and peace on our master Muhammad and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

There are two types of pain. One is called sharp or acute pain, which for example might be caused by the prick of a needle, an injury from broken glass or a sharp object like a knife, or contact of skin with a hot object like an element. Such sharp pain is especially important to protect the body through reflex. Similarly, sharp pain in internal organs such as the stomach or intestines may result from a puncture or blockage that prevents the transport of oxygen, or leakage of toxic material such as the stomach acid.

Another type of pain is continuous or chronic pain, of which one obvious example is rheumatic pain. Cancer pain is mostly chronic, although cancer may also cause sharp pain. Whether chronic or sharp, cancer pain can be unbearable, and only endurable with morphine.

What can we do about pain?

Medication should be our last resort when dealing with pain. We should remember that every drug is potentially a poison, and drugs, especially when used for a long time and in high doses, can have numerous adverse effects. Thus no drug, including aspirin, is fully innocent.

The cause of pain must first be diagnosed by a physician. A pain in the chest may simply be a muscle pain, or conversely may be as deadly as a heart attack.

After diagnosis comes the required treatment or operation. Intense pain from appendicitis, for example, is easily treated with an operation. Pain from a heart attack, which causes pain in the left part of the chest, left shoulder and left arm, must be dealt with very seriously under the supervision of a cardiologist.

The first measure to be taken in case of a headache, backache, or neck ache is to avoid the position or movement that causes the pain. Consider the following analogy: the wheels of your car are not properly aligned. One side of the tire is worn due to friction, and thus blows out or loses traction. This result is inevitable, unless one corrects the misalignment leading to friction and wear. The damage cannot be prevented by putting on ear plugs and pretending it doesn’t exist.

If your neck has an ache, you should consult a physician to diagnose the cause. The pain may be related to how you use your pillow; so you can get rid of the pain by simply adjusting the pillow based on your preferred sleeping position, or you may need to buy a new pillow. The pain may also be caused by keeping the head in the same direction for prolonged periods to watch TV or looking into the monitor, we may just need to do some simple physical exercise and sit up right. Desk jobs and extended cell phone use are primary causes of neck aches. Resorting to painkillers immediately is not the right thing to do in such cases. A drug may ease the pain temporarily, but as in the car analogy, we may end up with a flat tire. Painkillers do not resolve the injury to the neck and what is worse, despite the intensifying pain you may not be aware of the body’s warnings, and finally have a serious case of hernia that may require an operation that runs the risk for death or paralysis.

The most important cause of backache is a vicious circle of inactivity and obesity. If a person does not exercise, they will put on weight and as one puts on weight they cannot exercise. Carelessness when picking up something is one of the most common causes of backaches. Obesity is one of the most common causes of herniated disc. Obesity prevents doing exercise; back muscles weaken as one does not exercise, and this leads to a herniated disc. If we do not take necessary care about these and look to drugs for treatment, we may not feel the pain, but the injury and hernia continue to exist. The risk is much lower among those who observe meditation and other religious practices that include physical activity like bowing, prostrating, sitting and standing upright. Eating little and leaving the table before being full are among many prophetic advices that are useful for our health.

The same is true for knee injuries such as meniscus tears and ligament sprains. Our knees are some of our most precious assets. We should be careful about our knees when standing up from a squat or getting on or off a car so that they will not slip sideways. Dangerous, rigorous exercises or movements that may harm the bones and cartilage in the knees, such as lifting heavy weights and jumping off a height, should be avoided, especially after a certain age. Sitting crossed-legged or squatting for long periods may stretch cruciate ligaments too much, and a slight move may cause their rupture.

One of the most common types of headaches is stress-related headaches. In these headaches the muscles in the head become tense, causing the vessels to contract and leaving tissues without oxygen. If we learn how to deal with stress, we can ease the headache and become happier. We should fight stress consciously and actively. We can overcome headaches not by sitting idly but by mental preparation and activity targeting stress.

Cupping and other complementary treatments can be tried before medication. Performing regular prayers may help relieve the aches in the head, neck, and knees, because these prayers reduce stress and are a form of exercise. Washing yourself as a part of prayers includes exercise, cleaning, and getting rid of the stress-related static electricity through water. Cleaning the top of the head, massaging the ears inside out, and washing the face and feet are known to reduce stress and discharge static electricity.

Endorphins, a group of hormones secreted within the brain, are in fact given the task of acting as painkillers in our body. They are thousands of times more powerful than morphine and help us fight headaches. Most of the ache, especially in chronic pains, is eliminated by the “pain-control systems” which were installed in our brains; what we feel as pain is in fact whatever remains after this elimination. Were it not for this mechanism, which is a sign of great compassion, life would be insufferable because of pains.

Life lessons are learnt every day by those climbing. But the lessons learnt from the peak of an active stratovolcano, which last erupted some 300 years ago and is overdue to erupt anytime, makes these lessons more valuable. I understand the Japanese proverb now and decide to be the wise man:
“He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man; he who climbs it twice is a fool.”

Like any other mountain, the climb was grueling. And the difficult part about this was there was no nature to admire or reflect upon. The mountain is barren and exposed to wind from all directions, all the way to the peak. It is open to visitors only two months a year, and was therefore packed with trekkers. Going on a weekend, during the school holidays and peak season, makes it the most crowded mountain I have ever climbed.

The first life lesson I learnt was: Carry only what you need

Each trekker had to carry his own load. Other mountains give you the luxury of getting an extra guide to carry your belongings up to the peak. On Mount Fuji, you carry everything yourself, including the rubbish that you end up with. There is no place to throw garbage at the top, so you have to bring everything back down with you. We were warned that the weather at the summit was going to be freezing. So all the thermals clothing and jackets were necessary. Energy bars, water, head torch and my gloves all went in my backpack. As the climb got steeper, I realized I had packed in excess. Things I thought I would not be able to do without, but which made my climb more challenging and my back more sore unnecessarily.

Life lesson one

The life lesson from here is that life is a journey. We need to keep it simple and only take along with us what we need. Extra baggage only makes it backbreaking. Don’t get attached to the material possessions, you think you can’t do without them, but you can. Don’t get attached to anything, people, thoughts and wealth. Your climb up to the summit and journey in life will seem a lot smoother and lighter.

Lesson two: Break mental barriers

Our climb was planned a few weeks after Ramadan, so I wasn’t at my fittest. Fitness at my age was questioned and eyebrows were raised when I mentioned my upcoming challenge and asked, “Are you sure you will manage?” Thyroid sucked up my energy. And to top it all, as I prepared to travel I got a bad cold with a sore throat.

The life lesson is that you have to break your own mental barriers and replace the negativity with positivity. Colds heal. Thyroid can be taken care of. Age is nothing but a number. And anyway, what’s the worst that can happen? You won’t make it? At least you tried, and failures can strengthen you. So stop making excuses and do what you have to do! Enjoy God’s creations.

Lesson three: Appreciate God’s creation

Mount Fuji is very barren and it’s not a walk in the park. So when you tell someone you want to admire God’s creation, they can ask you, “Why don’t you go somewhere prettier?”

The life lesson here is that you find beauty in everything you see. One of the reason why the mountain gets flocked, with around 200,000 climbers a year, is so they can catch a glimpse of the sunrise. It is known as the goraiko or Buddha’s halo, and it is truly spectacular! So sometimes you have to struggle and you may see no benefit in your hard work, but the true beauty will come with one of the sunrises. So keep walking in life. Don’t give up. Soon you will be rewarded with something so amazing that you never imagined!

Japan, you taught me so much in such little time. Arigattu Gozaimashita.

One such wonder, the thorny devil (Molochhorridus), is an endemic creature that presents itself as a source of contemplation. It is a lizard between 10 and 15 cm long, with a broad body that is completely covered with cone-shaped sharp spikes, and has a rather big head and small eyes. Its appearance is made even more frightening with the two spikes on the sides of its head, which look like horns and are stronger than the others. On the back of the lizard’s head is a separate bump that resembles a second head on which there is another big spike. These unusual physical features have earned it the name the thorny devil. The lizard’s golden and brown patchy skin provides camouflage in the desert environment. Having a lifespan of between 12 and 20 years, this work of art is equipped with unique features that inspire greater awe as they are studied.

Deterrent tactics

Living in the harsh conditions of the desert, the thorny devil is equipped with tactics, each more interesting and unusual than the rest, to keep enemies at bay and stay clear of danger. First and foremost, the thorny devil’s color gets dull when it is frightened or cold, which adds to its melding with the environment. It also breathes in and holds the breath to enlarge its body and thus makes its already frightening appearance even more so. If the tactic does not work to deter the enemy, another strategy is put in place. The creature lowers its head until the lump with the thorn protrudes further. By producing its biggest weapon against the enemy, it seems to say “Don’t you dare come closer” and fends it off.

Skin and feet like a sponge

The most hidden secret of the thorny devil lies in its ability to absorb water through its skin and even feet. The thorny devil is geared up with a special skin make-up that can collect and transport water to the mouth as required by the environment. This structure is a mechanism that involves micro capillary tubes and a network of channels that connects them. The architecture of the network allows for capillary movement, that is, water can resist gravity and move upwards. This is how the lizard is enabled to drink water from sources like ponds, wet sand and droplets condensing on the skin. For example, this little desert creature can absorb water through its feet simply by standing on a little pond, without having to lower its mouth. Drinking water directly from water sources is already difficult, because the tongue and jaw structure of thorny devil is specially created to hunt its prey.

To unravel the intricacies of this mechanism, studies were conducted in the labs of the University of Western Australia on specimens of the Molochhorridus from the Gibson Desert. The studies focused on five water sources that could feed the creature: the rainfall, puddles, moist soil, water droplets from dew, and thermally-induced condensation. The aim was to uncover the effectiveness and efficiency of these sources in the thorny devil’s moisture-harvesting.

In the most striking of these experiments, which looked into collecting water from puddles, the lizards were placed in a puddle of 3 mm deep and the changes in their weight were measured. The thorny devils were divided into two groups as those that drank water and those that did not and were then observed for 60 minutes. It was found that there was a weight increase of 3.66 percent in the lizards with no jaw movement (i.e. non-drinking lizards). On the other hand, the increase in weight was found to be significantly higher at 6.84 percent for the lizards which had rhythmical jaw movements (i.e. drinking lizards). An examination of the jaw movements showed that every jaw movement accounted for the absorption of 0.7 milliliters of water.
To measure the lizards’ absorption of water from “moist sand” they were placed on soil containing different levels of water, varying between 3 to 22 percent. The amount of water absorbed through feet and skin was measured through differences in weight. It was found that water absorption increased proportionately as water content increased. A weight increase of 0.20 percent was found even in soil that contained 2 percent water; in soil with water content of 22 percent, the creature’s water collection amount averaged 1.84 percent. Although little, the increase was concluded to be significant.

Moreover, experiments with “pre-heating with moist sand” showed that pre-heating had a significant impact on the ability of the skin to draw water. It was also found that water collection through “water condensation supported by difference in heat and moisture” caused a weight gain increase of 0.215 percent. These studies show how fantastic a capillary system the thorny devil is equipped with to collect water from different sources, and thereby quench its thirst.
When we lend an ear to this little but amazing creature, we can almost hear it say that every living thing in the nature is being duly taken care of.

Surely God it is He Who is the All-Providing, Lord of all might, and the All-Forceful.
(Qur’an 51:58)

Dolphins produce clicking sounds to navigate, to collect information about their environment, and to locate food. Each and every dolphin has a different sound just like every human being. Distinguishing between different sounds, they have been known to instruct each other, receive instructions, and act accordingly.

Sounds for hunting and navigating

Dolphins send out clicking sounds. When those sounds hit an object, they bounce back vibrations to the dolphins. These echoes allow them to identify where objects are located. It also gives them information about the location of the object and some indication of the shape and size of it. This system is called “Echolocation” or “Sonar,” just like what a submarine uses to navigate while underwater.

How can dolphins analyze the information contained in these echoes?

Dolphins produce sounds with their larynx and a complex system of cavities connected to their blowhole. The sounds used in echolocation are a rapid series of clicks. The clicks contain a wide range of frequencies, but most of the sound energy is in the range between 50,000 to 200,000 cycles a second, or hertz. These high frequencies are necessary for echolocation in water. Because sound waves travel at about 340 meters a second (m/s) in air, and the speed of sound in water is five times greater than in air. The wavelength of a sound of a given frequency in water is five times longer than in air. Dolphins must generate frequency five times higher to achieve the same resolution.

How do dolphins use sound to gauge the distance and speed of objects around them?

The physical phenomenon of sound is defined to be a disturbance of matter that is transmitted from its source outward. Sound is a type of energy made by vibrations. Sound energy cannot be produced on its own. Sound waves move like ripples of water after a pebble has been dropped on the smooth surface of a pond. When any object vibrates, it causes movement in the air particles. This movement, called sound waves, work travel through a medium by passing vibrations from molecule to molecule until the particles run out of energy. 

Sound waves need to travel through a medium such as a solid, liquid, or gas. The molecules in gases are not packed as tightly as liquid. Therefore, the spacing of the molecules enables sound to travel much faster through a solid than a gas. Energy goes into compressing and expanding the surrounding water, occurring slightly higher and lower local pressures. These cause compressions (high pressure regions) and rarefactions (low pressure regions).

A sound wave travels approximately at 1,500 m/s in water. Another phenomenon related to the perception of time delays between two events is an echo. A person can often perceive a time delay between the production of a sound and the arrival of a reflection of that sound off a distant barrier. The time delay between the holler and the echo corresponds to the time for the holler to travel the round-trip distance to the canyon wall and back. A measurement of this time would allow a person to estimate the one-way distance to the prey. For instance, if a dolphin hears an echo in 0.2 seconds after making the holler, then the distance to the prey can be calculated as follows: distance = vxt = 1,500 m/s x 0.1 s = 150 m.

How can any dolphin analyze the information contained in these echoes?

There is still plenty that isn’t known about dolphin echolocation. There are two hypotheses about how dolphins produce sound underwater. Scientists are not sure which hypothesis is correct. According to the accepted views, dolphins have a fat-filled organ in the front part of the head described as a melon. The melon acts like a lens for sound waves, focusing the sound waves into a narrow beam. Dolphins generate a wide variety of clicks. The clicks they use for echolocation are of a higher frequency than those used for other forms of communication. This improves resolution and allows smaller prey to be located. The clicks are generated in a series of interconnected passages behind the melon. When the sound strikes an object such as a prey fish, some of the sound is reflected back toward the dolphin. Another fat-filled cavity in the dolphin’s lower jaw acts as a receptor for this sound. The sound is carried from the fat-filled cavity to the middle ear and perceived by the animal’s brain. Consequently, as soon as an echo from one click is received, the dolphin generates another click. The time lapse between click and echo enables the dolphin to determine the distance between it and the object. The difference in sound intensity received by each ear allows the animal to determine the direction. By emitting a series of clicks and listening to the echoes, the dolphin is able to locate and follow its prey. Yet the dolphin’s sonar is highly advanced and can pinpoint exact information about its surroundings ranging from size, distance and even the nature of the object.

After all these findings, one cannot help but ask, “Who taught science to dolphins?”

References

1. Richmond, Elliot. “Echolocation.” Animal Sciences. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Sep. 2015<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
2. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/the-physical-principles-of-sound
3. Beggs, J., & Thede, D. (2001). Chapter 2. The Science of Sound and Digital Audio in “Designing web audio” book. ” O’Reilly Media, Inc.”.